Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The Glass Floor

Up until recently the term "glass ceiling" was common
when discussing women in the workplace. It was a societal problem, a symptom of a
stereotype that held that females of the species were far better suited to the
kitchen than the boardroom.

The stereotype still exists but it's far more subtle
now. In the second decade of the 21st
century we find more women holding the reigns of business but the numbers show they're
still a minority.

Now it's less about glass ceilings and more about what you
get paid once you successfully break through it. Numbers don't lie and on average women still
only make 70% of what men do in the same role.
It's just the evolution of the stereotype. It's systemic discrimination and it's wrong
but it happens.

But there's another kind of discrimination. One that's hard to define and has no champion
to defend against it. It's discrimination born from our own
ingrained subjectivity.

You can read any of the articles on how to have the perfect
interview to get the job but do you comprehend the hidden message? You're expected to be at your best but the person
across the table from you is usually at their worst.

Just walking through the door could kill your chances based
on nothing more than a personal bias.
Who hasn't suspected they've lost a job because of somebody's closet
racism, sexism or ageism.

But try to prove it.

You can chalk it up to human nature but let's face it, as human beings we're awful to
each other. The truth is, most people go through life
with their own little prejudicial firewall.

The lizard
part of our brains tells us that everybody is out to take our stuff and only
when you prove that you're not can you make any progress.

This is why interview advice ends up sounding like a mashup between a polished sales pitch and a Dominatrix's
slave.

Yuck!

This is where the Glass Floor comes in.

It's bad enough trying to get a job you're qualified for but
what if the only thing available is something less than that.

What if instead of going for the regional
sales manager you're forced to apply for grocery stocker.

Nobody really believes your heart's desire is to be facing
bottles of salad dressing the rest of your life. Thing is, your interview for that prime
minimum wage gig starts from the premise that it is. Meaning you'll have a hard time convincing "Buck the Boss" who rose to
his lofty heights after a string of pizzadelivery gigs after barely graduating high school that
you're seriously interested.

It's the glass floor where those that have supposedly
"made it" have no fallback position.
Yeah, you could leave that CFO position off your resume but if you're a
bit older nobody is going to believe that you're that into jockeying pallets of
Hidden Valley Ranch.

Get real, stocking shelves is a crap job and everyone
who's ever done it knows it. It's not
meant to be a career path but when you're sitting across the table from "Buck" you might as well be going for a tenured Professorship at Harvard.

It's a big reason why the old saying still rings true. There's a lot of people with Masters degrees
living on the streets.

That anyone would expect a dead end job to be a lifetime
career path is ridiculous. The reality
is, they don't. It's just another "plausible"
means of legally discriminating against an otherwise viable and willing
candidate.

It is, the glass floor.

My advice, I don't know, I haven't found an answer yet. Maybe I should try entrepreneurship! I know I still have that work at home email
somewhere around here...